Daily Positive Thoughts: June 29, 2013: Breath
Chicago on the Ledge-Sears Tower
Breath
Life is not measured by how many breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
If we think, speak and act in an angry way, we leave an impression or memory of anger within our own consciousness which results in sanskara of anger to be born.
Within the sanskara is the recorded emotion and experience of our expression towards the object of our anger. The object is a particular person or situation. If we encounter the object of our anger the next day, it will trigger the emergence the recorded anger from within the sanskara. We then deepen the sanskara as we express more anger, even if we only 'think' anger. The emergence of this emotional energy from within our consciousness then stops us from interacting in a positive way. It clouds our mind and confuses our intellect, weakening and distorting our thoughts, decisions and behaviour. This often explains why we find it harder to connect and communicate with certain people in our life. Essentially we are carrying a negative image of the other person within our sanskara from a previous interaction with them. And when we see them again it emerges the energy within the sanskara, which then influences our ability to respond to them.
The Three Root Causes Of Anger (cont.)
We are at war with our self when we fail to make the world do exactly what we want, or we believe we have let our self down. An e.g. of a war with one self is - Suppose you are standing in a queue waiting for your chance to arrive, only to discover an hour later, just when your chance is about to arrive, that the time for the counter to close has come and the counter has closed. You get upset, but with whom? Perhaps the person at the counter at first and may be with the other people in the queue and then with yourself, for not having found out the time of closing of the counter. There are two failures that make you uneasy here. First you failed to ask someone early enough, which would have saved you the hour time loss. Second, you failed to control your emotions of anger. Although you might not externally admit that you failed, inside you know. Because of these two failures, you then start to get angry with yourself. The thought pattern that goes inside your mind: to fail is to lose, to lose is to be sorrowful, to be sorrowful causes me to become angry, as you look for an external cause of your sadness which, in this case, is initially the person at the counter and the other people in the queue (who would have known the time of closing and could have told you). So you demonstrate to others your justified anger towards them. But deep inside you know it is you yourself that has made you sorrowful.
As the anger builds up inside you, again, after a while, you find someone else outside on whom you vent out your anger. You seem to feel better as a result, but it's only temporary. The next time you become angry; interrupt the pattern of your anger by asking yourself two simple questions: Who are you fighting a war with? Answer: Yourself. Who is suffering the most due to the war? Answer: Yourself. And if your anger is directed at yourself for your own supposed failure then just tell yourself, "There is no such thing as failure, only a different result from the one that I expected and results are not going to be exactly as I want, expect or desire. That is a rule of the game of life."
Soul Sustenance
Transforming (Changing) My Thought Patterns
Why is it that we can't change the pattern of our thoughts so easily? Imagine a bird being so comfortable in its nest that, though perhaps sometimes it stands on the branch of the tree to inflate its chest and adjust its feathers, it never wants to fly and does not even realize it could fly. It never knows the blissful freedom of flight, never feels the wind through its wings. It thinks the other birds that are flying around are unwise or foolish. In much the same way, we never really leave our nests of old thought patterns. Our habitual thoughts become our comfort zone and each repetitive thought pattern is like a twig in the nest, which makes the nest stronger and our stay in the nest seemingly comfortable and permanent. We never experience our true spiritual freedom or flight or feel the breeze of our inner beautiful nature. Even the thought, "I am a soul" has to be realized eventually, so that we can actually experience its deepest truth.
In the world of spirituality, thoughts are like the map, but they are not the territory nor the reality of the experience. Thinking "I am a peaceful soul" or "I am a loveful soul" or "I am powerful soul" is not being soul-conscious, it is only theory or knowledge, but it is definitely an essential start. Maps are important and necessary, until we know the way home to experience. Reaching this final destination of experience makes it easier for us and empowers us to transform or change our old thought patterns.
Message for the day
Courage brings success.
Expression: Even after repeated trials and failures, when one does not lose courage, there is the ability to go on trying till success is achieved. Courage comes with the understanding that there is surely a way out. So a lot more effort is put in to find the right way. Success, which had been eluding for a long time will be finally attained.
Experience: When I have courage, I have hope. I will not give up the task mid way, but will put in continued effort. Because of this there is no difficulty experienced even whilst putting in extra effort but I do everything with enthusiasm and happiness. So nothing seems difficult and I easily move towards success.
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